Author R&R with Lorie Lewis Ham

Lorie Lewis Ham lives in Reedley, California and has been writing ever since she was a child. Her first song and poem were published when she was 13, and she has gone on to publish many articles, short stories, and poems throughout the years, as well as write for a local newspaper, and publish 7 mystery novels. For the past 14 years, Lorie has been the editor-in-chief and publisher of Kings River Life Magazine, and she produces Mysteryrat’s Maze Podcast, where you can hear an excerpt of her book One of Us, the first in a new series called The Tower District Mysteries. Book 2, One of You, was released in June of 2024.

About One of You:  With her life on the California Coast behind her, Roxi Carlucci is beginning to feel at home in the Tower District—the cultural oasis of Fresno, CA—where she now lives with her cousin-private eye Stephen Carlucci, her pet rat Merlin, a Pit Bull named Watson, and a black cat named Dan. She has a new entertainment podcast, works as a part-time P.I., and is helping local bookstore owner Clark Halliwell put on the first-ever Tower Halloween Mysteryfest. The brutal summer heat is gone and has been replaced by the dense tule fog—perfect for Halloween! She just wishes everyone would stop calling her the "Jessica Fletcher" of the Tower District simply because she found a dead body when she first arrived. But when one of the Mysteryfest authors is found dead, she fears she jinxed herself. The Carlucci’s are hired to find the killer before they strike again. Will Mysteryfest turn into a murder fest? How is the local gossip website back, and what does it know about the death of Roxi’s parents?

Lorie stops by In Reference to Murder to take some Author R&R about her books:

 

"Writing and Research Through the Years: What Changed/What Stayed the Same"

With the release of my new book, One of You, this past June, I have now published seven mystery novels. The first five were published in the early 2000s, and the latest two were published in 2021 and now 2024. As I look back at the process of both writing and promoting those books, it is amazing to me how much has changed, but also what hasn’t changed.

My first book, Murder in Four-Part Harmony, was also the first book I ever completed. It took me a LONG time (ten years at least) to finish as I was learning as I went along. I was also reading every book on mystery writing I could get my hands on and religiously reading Lawrence Block’s column in Writer’s Digest. In my first books, I wrote what I knew—I was a gospel singer at the time so my sleuth was also one. It was a world I knew well—the good and the bad. Each of the next several books took one or two years to write.

Back then, promotion was a lot different. ARCs (Advance Reading Copies) were only in paperback. Then they had to be sent off via snail mail. While author websites were becoming important, there wasn’t much else as far as online promotion back then. You set up book events at bookstores and libraries and did everything in real life.

The next book I wrote, One of Us, which was the first book in my new Tower District Mystery series, took me roughly ten years to write. It was also the shortest book I’ve ever written at around 63,000 words. This time it was normal life that slowed the process, and figuring out what the new series would be. I was busy with my online magazine Kings River Life, which took up most of my writing time.

When that book finally came out in 2021, it was a whole new world as far as promotion and events go. With both that book and the new one, most of my promotion has been online and I have only sent out one print ARC, all the rest were eBook ARCs through the Bookfunnel website. While I am actually having a few local in person events this time for my new book, the majority of my promotion with both of these books is online.

Thankfully, One of You, only took me three years to write and publish instead of ten. Before edits, it was also the longest book I had ever written at 99.000 words. The edited product though is closer to the length of those first books I wrote, 83,000 words. But honestly, I was shocked at how long it was to begin with—none of my other books even started out that long! One of You was very much the product of two NaNoWriMos (National Novel Writing Month) and Sisters in Crime Write-Ins in between, so perhaps that had something to do with its original length—word count is of high priority at NaNoWriMo! Keep in mind I am also a pantser (I just sit down and write the first draft—no outline), something else that hasn’t changed since my first book.

The research I do for my books has changed in some ways, and not in others. Both times I wrote what I knew up to a point. My new series is set in the Tower District (the arts and entertainment district of Fresno, CA), an area I know well. My main character is a podcaster, and so am I. It involves community theatre and animal rescue—both things I have been involved with. The two series are connected by a certain family—the Carluccis—who appear in both. They in turn come from a Mafia family. My early research on the Mafia was largely done by reading a lots of books and newspaper articles. Now my research is mostly done on the internet, except for making trips to the Tower District to check on certain details like street names and to absorb the feel of the place.

However, the main research I do for the mystery parts of the stories has stayed mostly the same. Early on, I believe through Sisters in Crime, I became acquainted with the wonderful D.P. Lyle who helps me with medical and coroner details for the body. He still is a resource to this day, as are the wonderful books he has written along those lines. The local police detective I interviewed for those investigation details with that very first book, Steve Wright, is still my main resource in that area as well. He has gone from police detective, all the way up to police chief, and now retired, during that time. I couldn’t do this without them.

One last thing that has stayed the same all the way through my mystery author journey is Sisters in Crime. They are not only a great resource for all things mystery publishing and writing, but they have been very supportive all along my journey. Without my then local chapter in Fresno, I never would have written my first book series because it was someone there who suggested the idea of writing a series featuring a gospel singing amateur sleuth-it had never crossed my mind.

 

You can learn more about Lorie and her writing on her website mysteryrat.com and find her on Facebook, BookBub, Goodreads, and Instagram @krlmagazine & @lorielewishamauthor. One of You is now available via all major online booksellers.

Media Murder for Monday

It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a brand-new roundup of crime drama news:

THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES

Former Eastenders headliner Martin Kemp is starring in the serial killer movie, Doctor Plague, playing jaded detective John Verney who is on the trail of an ancient cult of Plague Doctors cutting a bloody swathe through the London underworld. Dismissed by his superiors as gang-on-gang killings, the murders draw Verney into an obsessive maze of a secret society conspiracy with links to the Jack The Ripper murders of 1888, putting him and his family in grave danger. Joining Kemp in the cast are Peter Woodward (Babylon 5), David Yip (A View To A Kill), Jeanine Nerissa Sothcott (Renegades), Wendy Glenn (You’re Next) and Daisy Beaumont (The World Is Not Enough).

Mission: Impossible star Rebecca Ferguson has joined the cast of Netflix’s upcoming Peaky Blinders movie, although details about her role are being kept under wraps. Ferguson is the first high-profile name set opposite the previously announced Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer). The Peaky Blinders feature will see Oscar winner Murphy in a return to the iconic role of Tommy Shelby, leader of the eponymous Birmingham gangster family. Tom Harper is directing from a script by Peaky creator Steven Knight. Plot details are currently unknown, but Knight told Deadline in April that a movie story would be set during World War II. Production is expected to begin this year.

Focus Features has set Steven Soderbergh’s upcoming spy drama, Black Bag, for a March 14, 2025 theatrical release. The high-stakes mystery is set in the United Kingdom and stars Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender alongside Regé-Jean Page, Marisa Abela, Naomie Harris, Tom Burke, and Pierce Brosnan. David Koepp wrote the screenplay, although plot details have not been released.

TELEVISION/SMALL SCREEN

Sony Pictures Television is expanding its relationship with Long Bright River author, Liz Moore, acquiring her novels The God of the Woods and The Unseen World for series development. Set in the summer of 1975, The God of the Woods is an immersive, propulsive novel about a missing child whose disappearance sends equal shockwaves through three very different worlds—an opulent Adirondack summer estate, the rustic teen summer camp that operates in its shadow, and the blue-collar community that serves them both. The Unseen World tells the story of a daughter’s quest to discover the truth about her beloved father’s hidden past. Co-created and executive produced by Moore, Long Bright River stars Amanda Seyfried as Mickey, a police officer who patrols a Philadelphia neighborhood hard-hit by the opioid crisis. When a series of murders begins in the neighborhood, Mickey realizes that her personal history might be related to the case. That series is currently in production, with an as-yet-to-be-announced release date upcoming on Peacock.

At last week's San Diego Comic-Con, it was revealed that Michael C. Hall will star in Dexter: Resurrection, a new series set in the present day and a followup to the 2021 Dexter: New Blood. It will launch in summer 2025. This is in addition to the new prequel series that stars Patrick Gibson as the younger version of the former’s character in Dexter: Original Sin. Hall also serves as narrator of the 90s-set prequel series, which will premiere in December.

A first look was revealed for the upcoming new series, The Day of the Jackal, starring Eddie Redmayne, Lashana Lynch, and Úrsula Corberó. The teaser premiered Friday night during NBC and Peacock’s coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony. The Day of the Jackal will premiere on Peacock (U.S.) and Sky (UK) on November 7. The series is based on the Frederick Forsyth novel and 1973 film adaptation from Universal and follows an unrivaled and highly elusive lone assassin, the Jackal (Redmayne), who makes his living carrying out hits for the highest fee.

PODCASTS/RADIO

On the Alliance of Independent Authors podcast, Howard Lovy interviewed Dawn Brookes, a British writer of cozy mysteries and a former nurse who worked in healthcare for nearly 40 years. After retiring from nursing, Dawn began writing full-time, drawing on her extensive experience to create rich characters and engaging stories.

Australia's Nightlife podcast chatted with Tim Ayliffe, a journalist for more than 20 years and author of a series featuring John Bailey, a battle-worn journalist who is an amalgam of many great journalists and former correspondents Tim has worked with. He joined podcast host Philip Clark for a look at true crime, corruption, hideous people, and creating a dialogue in print.

On Crime Time FM, Craig Sisterson spoke with Emma Viskic, Dinuka McKenzie, Charity Norman, and Helen Fitzgerald, who all contributed to the anthology, Dark Deeds Down Under 2.

This week’s episode of the Crime Cafe podcast featured Debbi Mack's interview with crime writer Michael J. Young, MD, who spent 30 years as a surgeon while living in Chicago. He's the author of a memoir/assessment of the current medical system titled The Illness of Medicine: Experiences of Clinical Practice and has also authored a trilogy of medical thrillers.

On the Spybrary Spy Book podcast, guest host Andy Onyx chatted with John Higgs, author of Love and Let Die – James Bond, The Beatles and The British Psyche.

On the Cops and Writers podcast, guest Mike Roche, with over four decades of experience as a street cop, detective, and special agent for the ATF and Secret Service, shared his vast experience and offered up valuable insights into law enforcement.

Read or Dead's Katie McLain Horner and guest host Liberty Hardy talked about reading recommendations for fans of Knives Out.

The latest Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine podcast featured "Blue Christmas," a chilling medical mystery by author and emergency-room physician, Melissa Yi, from her series of mysteries featuring Dr. Hope Sze.

Mystery Melange

The Maltese Falcon Society of Japan has named S.A. Cosby’s Razorblade Tears (first published by Flatiron Books in 2021) as the winner of its 2024 Maltese Falcon Award. The honor is bestowed upon the best hard-boiled/private eye novel published in Japan in the previous year. Cosby will receive a wood-crafted Falcon statuette. (HT to the Gumshoe Site by way of The Rap Sheet)

Sisters in Crime Australia has announced the shortlist for the 24th Davitt Awards for best crime and mystery books. Members of the organization are also able to vote on the Davitt Readers' Choice Award through the end of July. The Best Adult novel category include Bronwyn Hall, The Chasm (HQ Fiction); Amanda Hampson, The Tea Ladies (Penguin Random House); Marija Pericic, Exquisite Corpse (Ultimo Press); and also four debut novels, Christine Keighery, The Half Brother (Ultimo Press); Suzie Miller, Prima Facie (Pan Macmillan Australia); Darcy Tindale, The Fall Between (Penguin Random House); and Monica Vuu, When One of Us Hurts (Pan Macmillan Australia).

The BloodShed is a new, interactive crime fiction festival to be held in Swindon, UK, which will bring authors and readers together - with writing workshops led by published crime authors from across the UK. There will also be a variety of panel interviews, and the chance to show off your sleuthing ability against those who write mysteries for a living. More details will be forthcoming soon about this event, scheduled for October 18-20, 2024.

On the heels of Jo Callaghan winning the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2024 for In the Blink of an Eye, T&R Theakston Limited announced it's extending its partnership with Harrogate International Festivals to continue sponsoring the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, a partnership that's been in place for 20 years. The festival has attracted internationally best-selling authors such as Val McDermid, Denise Mina, S A Cosby, P D James, Lee Child, John Grisham, Michael Connolly, Ian Rankin, and Harlan Coben.

It's always difficult to keep up with all the end-of-the-year "best" crime fiction lists, but Parade Magazine decided to get a head start with "The 29 Best Mystery, Thriller and True Crime Books of 2024…so Far."

In the Q&A roundup, Criminal Element's Lisa Pulitzer interviewed her A Hunger to Kill co-author, Detective Kim Mager, about Mager's writing experience as a first-time author, goals for sharing the previously unrevealed details behind breaking open the Shawn Grate case, as well as personal details about her life as a mom, wife, and female police detective; and at Writers Who Kill, E.B. Davis interviewed Valerie Burns about the third book in her Baker Street series, titled A Cup of Flour, A Pinch of Death.

Author R&R with Allen Wyler

Allen Wyler is a neurosurgeon who left practice in 2002 to be Medical Director for a medical technology start-up, Northstar Neuroscience, which went public (NSTR) in 2006. Leveraging a love for thrillers since the early '70s, Wyler began writing fiction and published his first book in 2005. At the end of 2007 he retired to devote full time to writing. He served as Vice President of the International Thriller Writers organization for several years and has been nominated twice for a Thriller Award. He lives in Seattle.

In Wyler’s 7th installment of the Deadly Odds techno-thriller series, Deadly Odds 7.0, reformed hacker Arnold Gold and his team are contracted to come up with a daring plan to sneak past newly installed AI-enhanced security systems to hack the computers and offices at a high-profile Seattle law firm in an ultra-secure downtown office building—while squaring off against the clock and a hard-driving, paranoid Head of Security, Itzhak Mizrahi.

Allen Wyler stops by In Reference to Murder to talk about writing and researching his novels:

I’m a native Seattleite who, at the University of Washington, made the mistake of majoring in English Literature with the intention of applying for medical school; a choice that turned into a class-scheduling combination from hell. So, I ended up with a BS degree in Basic Medical Sciences, entered med school and went on to become a neurosurgeon. As satisfying as that career was, the specialty didn’t allow for a great deal of creativity. I mean, who wants their brain surgeon to get super creative during the removal of a tricky tumor?  For years I suppressed a squeaky little voice buried in consciousness crying out to scratch a creative itch. Then, one Saturday I came home from making hospital rounds and announced to my wife that I was going write a novel. A thriller, to be exact because that’s the genre I love. At which point she collapsed on the floor in laughter. That did it! I sat down to start in. Eventually I turned out a thriller about a hacker, Radical Dood, that seriously sucked as evidenced by the reams of rejection letters that followed. Still, I kept at it.

Why hackers, might you ask? Well, because years before, as an Assistant Professor at the UW, I ran a neurophysiology lab in which experiments were controlled by a minicomputer, for which I had to write proprietary software, so I knew a little about the subject. A few years later Clifford Stoll wrote a non-fiction book, Cuckoo’s Egg. Stoll was an astronomer turned systems manager at the Lawrence Berkeley Lab who tracked down a hacker in their computer who was stealing classified information for an international spy ring fueled by cash, cocaine, and the KGB. Wow! Pretty engrossing stuff. I was totally hooked on the subject.

Years later a literary agent replied to a query letter with the advice that although my style was “commercial,” a neurosurgeon writing about hackers really wasn’t going to cut it. That in order to land a contract I needed to write what I knew. In other words, “write a medical thriller, stupid.”

So, I wrote a Deadly Errors, a thriller about a hacked electronic medical records system. It scored two-book contract with Tor/Forge. Although medical thrillers were fun to write, I still fantasized writing about hacking.

Switching publishers allowed me the freedom to publish Deadly Odds, originally a stand-alone about twenty-three-year Seattle-based odds-maker and computer genius, Arnold Gold. Described as a “part-time hacker and full-time virgin” by his friends, Gold flies to Las Vegas to try to get lucky—in more ways than one. But his high stakes internet activity inadvertently drops him into a vortex of international terrorism that results in murder and takes every last bit of Arnold's intellect and legendary skill to stay one step ahead of murderous terrorists, the FBI, the local cops and his lawyer. In other words, a quintessential thriller. My publisher and I loved the character I’d stumbled on, so decided I should turn Deadly Odds into a sequentially numbered series similar to software iterations. However, each episode can be read and enjoyed as a standalone.

The series chronicles Arnold’s arc toward maturity as a male, his personal life, and his career as a businessman who is building a select group of “white hat” hackers into IT team specializing in serving the unique needs of law firms that, for various reasons, aren’t keen on opening their highly confidential files to unknown IT techs. In Deadly Odds 7.0 Arnold’s team is contracted by a high-powered law firm to break into their ultra-secure downtown offices by bypassing the building’s newly installed AI security enhancements while also squaring off against the clock and a hard-driving, paranoid Head of Security. These contracted break-ins represent a security-testing tactic known as penetration testing.

To help answer numerous questions that spring up during story development, I’ve developed a terrific team of consultants that include cybersecurity experts as well as law enforcement agencies such as Seattle and King County police and the FBI.

You can learn more about Allen Wyler and his writing via his website and follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.  Deadly Odds 7.0 is available via Stairway Press and all major booksellers.

Media Murder for Monday

It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a brand-new roundup of crime drama news:

THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES

As Deadline reported, 20th Century and Imagine Entertainment are in early development on a feature adaptation of the hit Fox series 24. Created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran for Fox, 24 originally ran for nine seasons between 2001 and 2014, and spawned a 2008 television film called Redemption. Kiefer Sutherland starred as Jack Bauer, an agent from the U.S. government’s fictitious "Counter Terrorist Unit" (CTU). No plot details are currently known, and it is also unclear if Sutherland will return to play Bauer.

Michael Mann is making a sequel to his 1995 film Heat and is working on writing the screenplay, which is based on the novel Heat 2 that he co-authored with Meg Gardiner. Mann told the Los Angeles Times that he wants to begin shooting the film by the end of 2024 or the beginning of 2025. Heat followed the conflict between LAPD detective Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) and a career thief, Neil McCauley (Robert DeNiro), and also starred Val Kilmer as McCauley's right-hand man. Heat 2 will function as both a prequel and a sequel to Heat, jumping between two time periods. Although there's no word official yet on casting, Adam Driver and Austin Butler are rumored to be taking over DeNiro and Kilmer’s roles.

Greenwich Entertainment has acquired North American rights to The Critic, a period thriller starring Ian McKellen, which is adapted from Anthony Quinn’s novel, Curtain Call. Directed by Anand Tucker (Hilary and Jackie) from a script by Academy Award nominee Patrick Marber (Closer), the film will release in theaters on September 13th. Set in London in 1934, the film follows Jimmy Erskine (McKellen), the most feared theatre critic of his age, who derives pleasure from savagely taking down any actor who fails to meet his standards. When the owner of the newspaper where he works dies and his son David Brooke (Mark Strong) takes over, Jimmy finds himself at odds with his new boss. In an attempt to preserve the power and influence he holds so sacred, Jimmy strikes a Faustian pact with struggling actress Nina Land (Gemma Arterton), entangling them and Brooke in a thrilling but deadly web of desire, blackmail, and betrayal.

Mimi Rogers (Bosch: Legacy) and Cemre Paksoy (As the Crow Flies) are attached to star in Night Nurse, an erotic thriller from writer-director Georgia Bernstein, which will mark her feature debut. The film takes place behind the gates of a remote retirement community, where a starry-eyed nurse is beguiled by a string of perverse scam calls. When she discovers her patient is the seductive con man behind these schemes, her innocent flirtation blooms into a lust for deception.

A trailer was released for The Killer, a remake of John Woo’s 1989 classic. The original film starred Chow Yun-Fat as a noble hit man who performs one last job after accidentally blinding a young singer. In a gender-swapped role, Nathalie Emmanuel stars as the titular assassin in the remake, with Diana Silvers playing the young girl the killer blinds, and Omar Sy playing the dogged detective on the killer’s trail. The preview shows plenty of Woo’s trademark style, which encompasses "slow-motion, operatic emotion, and balletic gunplay." Woo directed the new film from a screenplay by Oscar winner Brian Helgeland and the screenwriting team of Josh Campbell & Matt Stuecken. The Killer debuts on Peacock on August 23.

TELEVISION/SMALL SCREEN

Colin Firth is joining the cast of Young Sherlock, Prime Video’s new series from Guy Ritchie, which tells the origin story of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s beloved detective. He joins previously cast Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Zine Tseng, Joseph Fiennes and Natascha McElhone. Written by Matthew Parkhill and inspired by Andy Lane’s Young Sherlock Holmes book series, the show re-imagines Sherlock Holmes (Tiffin) at age 19. Disgraced, raw, unfiltered, and unformed, he finds himself caught up in a murder mystery at Oxford University that threatens his freedom. Diving into his first-ever case with a wild lack of discipline, Sherlock manages to unravel a globe-trotting conspiracy that will change his life forever. Firth will play Sir Bucephalus Hodge.

NBC has picked up its two remaining pilots to series: Suits: L.A., starring Stephen Amell, and Grosse Pointe Garden Society. However, it has not been determined whether either of them will premiere during the 2024-25 season. Suits: L.A. is not a reboot or revival of the original USA series but more like a new chapter, centered on Ted Black (Amell), a former federal prosecutor from New York who has reinvented himself by representing the most powerful clients in Los Angeles. His firm is at a crisis point, and to survive he must embrace a role he held in contempt his entire career. Grosse Pointe Garden Society follows four members of a suburban garden club — Birdie (Melissa Fumero), Alice (AnnaSophia Robb), Brett (Ben Rappaport) and Catherine (Aja Naomi King) — all from different walks of life, "who get caught up in murder and mischief as they struggle to make their conventional lives bloom."

Jeff Fahey (Lost), William Forsythe (Raising Arizona), and Nicky Whelan (Halloween 2) are among the cast joining Mark Pellegrino (Supernatural) in the upcoming dramedy crime series, A Motel. Also joining the cast are Thomas Ian Nicholas (American Pie), Niko Foster (MR-9: Do or Die), Nolan River (Old), Charlene Amoia (How I Met Your Mother), Luke Edwards (True Detective), Kelly Reiter (Deadlock), and Kelly Arjen (Adverse). Pellegrino leads the show about a group of outcasts working at a seedy motel who find themselves in danger when they accidentally uncover a drug smuggling plot for the mafia.

MASTERPIECE Mystery! on PBS released two new trailers (here and here) for the three remaining Mystery! titles to come this summer and fall, including the adaptation of Anthony Horowitz's Moonflower Murders, Van der Valk Season 4, and Robert Thorogood's The Marlow Murder Club.

PODCASTS/RADIO

On Crime Time FM, Trevor Wood chatted with Sarah Moorhead about his new police thriller, The Silent Killer; early onset Alzheimer's; homelessness; Glastonbury, and more.

The Red Hot Chili Writers spoke with thriller writer Jack Jordan about his new novel, Redemption, and his fascination with existential moral dilemmas.

The Pick Your Poison podcast looked at a poison still being used as medicine, why it’s called the King of Poisons, and what it has to do with the very first antibiotic.

The Strand Takes a Stand

Quarterly crime fiction and mystery magazine The Strand Magazine has announced its nominees for the annual Strand Magazine Critics Awards, which recognize excellence in the field of mystery fiction and publishing. The awards are judged by an ever-changing group of book critics and journalists, with this year’s judges chosen from Los Angeles Times, National Public Radio, USA Today, and The Associated Press. The Strand is also handing out two Lifetime Achievement Awards for 2024, to both Kathy Reichs (of the "Bones" series featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan) and Max Allan Collins (the "Quarry" and "Nathan Heller" series). Jonathan Karp of Simon and Schuster has been chosen to receive the magazine’s Publisher of the Year Award. 

Best Mystery Novel:

• All the Sinners Bleed, by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron)
• Everybody Knows, by Jordan Harper (Mulholland)
• Small Mercies, by Dennis Lehane (Harper)
• Resurrection Walk, by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
• Prom Mom, by Laura Lippman (Morrow)
• Time’s Undoing, by Cheryl A. Head (Dutton)
• The Secret Hours, by Mick Herron (Soho Crime)

Best Debut Mystery:

• Fadeaway Joe, by Hugh Lessig (Crooked Lane)
• Mother-Daughter Murder Night, by Nina Simon (Morrow)
• The House in the Pines, by Ana Reyes (Dutton)
• Don’t Forget the Girl, by Rebecca McKanna (Sourcebooks Landmark)
• Adrift, by Lisa Brideau (Sourcebooks Landmark)
• The Peacock and the Sparrow, by I.S. Berry (Atria)

Theakston's Peculier Delights

Harrogate International Festivals announced the winners of the 2024 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year and the inaugural McDermid Debut Award at the opening evening of this year’s Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate, England.  Martina Cole was also awarded the Theakston Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution for 2024. Congrats to the winners and finalists!

Crime Novel of the Year:  In the Blink of an Eye by Jo Callaghan (Simon & Schuster UK)

The other finalists:

• The Last Dance by Mark Billingham (Sphere; Little, Brown Book Group)
• The Secret Hours by Mick Herron (Baskerville; John Murray Press) 
• Killing Jericho by William Hussey (Zaffre, Bonnier) 
• None of This is True by Lisa Jewell (Century; Cornerstone) 
• Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent (Sandycove; Penguin Ireland) 
  

McDermid Debut Award:  Deadly Animals by Marie Tierney (Bonnier Books)

The other finalists:

• Crow Moon by Suzy Aspley (Orenda Books) 
• Dark Island by Daniel Aubrey (Harper Collins) 
• Knife Skills for Beginners by Orlando Murrin (Bantam, Transworld) 
• Mrs Sidhu’s Dead and Scone by Suk Pannu (Harper Collins) 
• The Library Thief by Kuchenga Shenjé (Sphere, Little Brown)
  
  

The Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, now in its 12th year, is presented by Harrogate International Festivals and sponsored by T&R Theakston Ltd, in partnership with Waterstones and the Daily Express, and is open to full-length crime novels published in paperback between May 1, 2023 and April 30, 2024. The Awards Academy chose the longlist, and a public vote helped to determine the shortlist. The winner receives £3,000 and a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by T&R Theakston Ltd.

The shortlist for the McDermid Debut Award was selected by an academy of established crime and thriller authors, with the winner determined by a judging panel of industry experts, including literary, broadcasting and media figures, with no public voting component. All shortlisted authors receive a full weekend pass to the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, with the winner receiving a £500 cash prize.

Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Awards

The 2024 Killer Nashville Conference announced the Silver Falchion Award Finalists, representing the best books published in 2023. The winners in each category and the top 3 winners overall will be announced at the Killer Nashville Awards Dinner on August 23, 2024, in Nashville, Tennessee. Congrats to all!

Best Action Adventure

• A New Game by A.M. Adair
• Siphon by Ley Esses
• A Blanket of Steel by Timothy S. Johnston
• Hanging the Devil by Tim Maleeny
• Splinter by Paul McHugh
• The Warmaker: A Black Spear Novel by Benjamin Spada

Best Comedy

• Downsized or Dead by S.E. Greco
• Shocked by Champagne by Lucy Lakestone
• Cultured by DP Lyle
• Citizen Orlov by Jonathan Payne
• Model Suspect by TK Sheffield
• A Crafty Collage of Crime by Lois Winston

Best Cozy

• Under the Cocoon Moon by Kathleen Bailey
• Dumpster Dying by Michelle Bennington
• Puppy Love by Mike Faricy
• Naked Came the Detective by Glendall Jackson
• Karma Comes in Red, A Beyond Mystery by Morgan James
• Trust the Terrier: A Coral Shores Veterinary Mystery by DL Mitchell

Best Historical

• Revenge at the Galliano Club by Carmen Amato
• Red Flags: A Novel by Rebecca McQueen
• Arsenic at Ascot, A Fiona Figg & Kitty Lane Mystery by Kelly Oliver
• The Sorrowful Girl by Keenan Powell
• The Last Drop of Hemlock by Katharine Schellman
• A Courtesan’s Secret by Nina Wachsman

Best Investigator

• When Things Fall Apart by Alan Brenham
• Reflections in a Dragon’s Eye by Bradley Harper MD
• Vessels of Wrath by Thomas Holland
• These Still Black Waters by Christina McDonald
• Standing Dead: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery by Margaret Mizushima
• Splintered Loyalty by Mark Troy

Best Juvenile or YA

• Where Echoes Die by Courtney Gould
• The Sasquatch of Hawthorne Elementary by K.B. Jackson
• A Place of Vengeance by David Lafferty 
• A Tall Dark Trouble by Vanessa Montalban
• Immortality: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz
• Stateless by Elizabeth Wein

Best Literary

• Brush: A Novel by Penn Anderson
• The Last Beekeeper by Julie Carrick Dalton
• Multo by Cindy Fazzi
• Nemesis Rising by Adam Golob
• The Salt Cutter by CJ Howell

Best Mainstream / Commercial

• Stolen Diary by Kathryn Lane
• Beverly Bonnefinche is Dead by Kristen Seeley
• Prom Queen by Laura Wolfe

Best Mystery

• Mouse in the Box by Lewis Allan
• Indigo Road by Reed Bunzel
• Beautiful Death by John Deal
• Secrets Don’t Sink by Kate B. Jackson
• BeatNikki’s Café by Renee James
• The Empty Kayak by Jode Millman

Best Nonfiction

• Forget It, Jake, It’s Schenectady: The True Story Behind ‘The Place Beyond the Pines’ by David Bushman
• Monster on the Loose by Richard Carrico
• Here, Where Death Delights by Mary Jumbelic
• The Climate Pandemic: How Climate Disruption Threatens Human Survival by Dennis Meredith
• Saint Bloodbath by Frederick Reynolds
• Finding YOUR Path to Publication: A Step-by-Step Guide by Judy Penz Sheluk

Best Sci-Fi or Fantasy

• The Pilgrim – Part I by A. Keith Carreiro
• The Confession of Hemingway Jones by Kathleen Hannon
• Interface: Book One: Connection by R.K. Hillhouse
• The Zone: A Cyberpunk Thriller by Stu Jones
• Do You Believe in Magic? by Jim Melvin
• Darwin’s Dilemma by Don Stuart

Best Anthology/Collection

• The Black Hole Pastrami by Jeffrey Feingold
• There is No Death in Finding Nemo by Jeffrey Feingold
• Paper Walls by Glass Houses by Richard Helms
• Blues City Clues edited by Carolyn McSparren, Angelyn Sherrod, and James Paavola
• Obsession (editor unknown)
• Hook, Line, and Sinker: The Seventh Guppy Anthology edited by Emily Murphy

Best Southern Gothic

• Inescapable, A Novel by WB Henley

Best Supernatural

• Monstera by EL Block
• Personal Demons by L.R. Braden
• The Paleontologist by Luke Dumas
• Downpour by Christopher Hawkins
• A Mother’s Torment by Xavier Poe Kane
• Ghost Tamer by Meredith R. Lyons

Best Suspense

• Don’t Close Your Eyes by Mary Alford
• Deep Fake Double Down by Debbie Burke
• Deadly Tides by Mary Keliikoa
• Perspectives by Matthew Minson
• Dead West by Linda L. Richards
• The Rule of Thirds by Jeannee Sacken

Best Thriller

• Checkout Time by John Bukowski
• The Followers by Bradeigh Godfrey
• The Trap by Catherine Ryan Howard
• Implied Consent by Keenan Powell
• Breaking Apart by Wanda Venters, MD and Mary Rae, MD
• Kyd’s Game by Marc Rosenberg

Best Western

• Reckoning by Baron Birtcher
• Bladestay by Jackie Johnson

Mystery Melange

J. Madison Davis, Acting Executive Director of the International Association of Crime Writers North American Branch, alerted me to the news that Colson Whitehead's Crook Manifesto (Doubleday) has won the Hammett Prize trophy, which is awarded to the book of the year that best represents the conception of literary excellence in crime writing for the previous year. The other finalists included Night Letter by Sterling Watson (Akashic Books); The Almost Widow by Gail Anderson-Dargatz (Harper Avenue); Stealing by Margaret Verble (Mariner Books) and The Quiet Tenant by Clémence Michallon (Alfred A. Knopf). Congrats to Whitehead and all the finalists!

At this past weekend's Public Safety Writers Association Conference, the winners of the PSWA Writing Awards were announced. The Marilyn Meredith Award for Excellence in Writing went to Colin Conway; Best Book Cover to Hope Dies Last, A Stefan Kopriva Mystery by Frank Zafiro; Published Fiction Books–Police Procedural to Colin Conway for The Fate of Our Years, A 509 Crime Story; Published Fiction Books–Thriller to Devil Within, A Nathan Parker Detective Novel by James L’Etoile; Published Fiction Books–Suspense to Hope Dies Last, A Stefan Kopriva Mystery by Frank Zaffiro; Published Non-Fiction Book to The Alaskan Blonde: Sex, Secrets, and the Hollywood Story That Shocked America by James Bartlett; and Best Published Memoir, Living With Mr. Fahrenheit by Lisa Beecher. For all the finalists in those categories and the winners and finalists in the unpublished division, head on over to the PSWA website.

The 2024 Killer Nashville Claymore Award finalists for unpublished manuscripts were announced this week. The contest is limited to only the first 50 double-spaced pages of unpublished English-language manuscript, or appropriately formatted play or screenplay, containing elements of thriller, mystery, crime, suspense, action, and/or romance not currently under contract. The winners of the seventeen categories will be revealed at the Killer Nashville Awards Dinner on August 24, 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee.

The International Association of Media Tie-In Writers announced the finalists for the 2024 Scribe Awards, which celebrate and honor excellence in the field of writing tie-in fiction for media franchises. The works include novels, short stories, audio dramas, and graphic novels tied to licenses of movies and TV shows, as well as video games, comics, songs, and even book series. Although this year's field is heavily tilted toward science and speculative fiction, there are a few crime fiction works in the Original Novel – General category, including Legend of the Five Rings: Three Oaths by Josh Reynolds; Murder, She Wrote: Fit for Murder by Jessica Fletcher and Terrie Farley Moran; and Watch Dogs Legion: Cold Reboot. It was also announced that IAMTW’s 2024 Grandmaster and Faust Award Winner is James Reasoner, who has written more than 350 novels and more than 100 short stories. Although perhaps best known for westerns, he has written across many genres from mystery (including Walker, Texas Ranger tie-ins) to fantasy to science fiction.

Sisters in Crime’s Scarlet Stiletto Awards for Australian women’s best short crime and mystery stories, which offers a record $13,400 in prizes, is open for submissions. A brand-new award – the Cate Kennedy Award for Best Story Inspired by a Forensic Clue ($500) – is also being offered this year. The shortlist will be announced in October, with the awards being presented at a gala ceremony in Melbourne in late November. The closing date for the awards is August 31, 2024. For more information, head on over to their website.

Penguin Noir is back by popular demand with two events coming to Brisbane and Melbourne this August, featuring an action-packed showcase with some of the best Australian crime writers. Authors scheduled to participate in the Brisbane event on August 1 include Benjamin Stevenson (Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone), Candice Fox (a James Patterson co-writer), Fiona McIntosh (Jack Hawksworth series), Margaret Hickey (The Creeper), and Georgia Harper (What I Would Do to You). The event in Melbourne will take place a week later on August 8 and feature Kerryn Mayne (Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder), Amanda Hampson (The Cryptic Clue), Amy Doak (Eleanor Jones Can't Keep a Secret), and Lyn Yeowart (The Silent Listener).

Registration is now open for NoirCon 2024, the 8th and biggest NoirCon yet, with four thrilling days of mystery and intrigue at the Palm Springs Cultural Center in Palm Springs, California, from November 7th to 10th, 2024. The organizers are partnering with the Palm Springs Cultural Center and the Best Bookstore in Palm Springs to bring you this year's event, which will feature panels, speakers, classic film screenings with special guests, notable author events, in-person book signings, and more. For more information and to register, follow this link.

The Thunderbolt Prize for crime writers resident in Australia is open for submissions. It includes major prizes and a youth category for writers under 18yrs. All genres of crime writing are eligible, from hard-boiled to comic, to paranormal to rural, noir to cozy, with entries welcome from anywhere in Australia. Works must be a maxmium of 2,500 words for fiction and non-Fiction and 60 lines for poems and be submitted by Friday, September 27, 2024.

Martin Edwards paid tribute to CADS 92, the final installment of Crime and Detective Stories, a magazine that Geoff Bradley has been running since July 1985. As Edwards notes, that's an incredible 39 years of dedication, "and the result has been something unique, an informal magazine that has gained immensely from its combination of homespun charm yet authoritative comment from a very wide of contributors."

Media Murder for Monday

It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a brand-new roundup of crime drama news:

THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES

The Michael Crichton and James Patterson novel, Eruption, has been bought at auction by Sony in a seven-figure deal. The adaptation has snagged Oscar-winning Free Solo directors Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, and Deadline also reports that conversations are ongoing with Keanu Reeves to potentially star. Eruption, which Crichton spent 20 years writing before his death in 2008, follows a history-making volcanic explosion that is about to wipe away the big island of Hawaii. However, a secret held for decades by the U.S. military is far more terrifying than any volcano.

Zoë Kravitz (Big Little Lies) is in talks to join Austin Butler in Darren Aronofsky’s crime thriller, Caught Stealing, for Sony Pictures, a project based on the book by Charlie Huston, who is also writing the script. Caught Stealing follows Hank Thompson, a burned-out former baseball player, as he’s unwittingly plunged into a wild fight for survival in the downtown criminal underworld of '90s NYC.

Richard E. Grant (Withnail & I), Tom Ellis (Lucifer), Geoff Bell (Kingsman: The Secret Service), Paul Freeman (Raiders of the Lost Ark), Sarah Niles (Ted Lasso), and Ingrid Oliver (Doctor Who) are the latest names to have joined Netflix’s movie The Thursday Murder Club, based on the book by Richard Osman. They join a star-studded British and Irish ensemble including Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, Celia Imrie, David Tennant, Jonathan Pryce, Naomi Ackie, Daniel Mays, and Henry Lloyd-Hughes. The story follows a group of friends in a retirement home who gather to solve murders for fun, but find themselves caught in a real case. The four members of the club will be played by Mirren (ex-spy Elizabeth), Kingsley (ex-psychiatrist Ibrahim), Brosnan (former union activist Ron), and Imrie (ex-nurse Joyce).

TELEVISION/SMALL SCREEN

Apple TV+ has ordered a second season of the legal thriller, Presumed Innocent, with David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams, and Season 1 star Jake Gyllenhaal returning as executive producers, and Presumed Innocent author Scott Turow as co-executive producer. The news comes a month into the run of the series, which already has become the #1 most viewed drama of all time on Apple TV+. There are no details about Season 2 beyond the fact that it "will unfold around a suspenseful, brand new case." Gyllenhaal’s Rusty Sabich is not a recurring character in Turow’s books, so it is unclear whether the actor would return.

Game of Thrones alumna Emilia Clarke is set as a lead in Ed Brubaker’s Prime Video drama, Criminal, an interlocking universe of crime stories based on the multi-Eisner Award-winning graphic novel series created by Brubaker and Sean Phillips. Clarke will play Mallory, a slick and daring armed robber who's partnered with Ricky Lawless (Gus Halper) in a passionate Bonnie-and-Clyde-like affair. Mallory is a woman on the edge, living on the wrong side of the law and hiding secrets that will bring her and her entire crew into the danger zone. In addition to Halper, Clarke joins previously announced cast including Charlie Hunnam, Richard Jenkins, John Hawkes, Adria Arjona, Logan Browning, Kadeem Hardison, Pat Healy, Taylor Sele, Aliyah Camacho, Michael Mando, Marvin Jones III, Michael Xavier, and Dominic Burgess.

Prime Video has also set the premiere date for the Aldis Hodge-starring crime thriller series, Cross, for November 14. Cross is a complex, twisted, pulse-pounding thriller created by showrunner and executive producer Ben Watkins, based upon the characters from James Patterson’s best-selling Alex Cross book series. The drama follows Alex Cross (Hodge), a detective and forensic psychologist, uniquely capable of digging into the psyches of killers and their victims, to identify—and ultimately capture—the murderers. In addition to Hodge, Cross also stars Isaiah Mustafa, Juanita Jennings, Alona Tal, Samantha Walkes, Caleb Elijah, Melody Hurd, Jennifer Wigmore, Eloise Mumford, and Ryan Eggold. In an unusual move, the series was renewed back in May by Prime Video for a second season, even before the premiere of season 1.

Courtney Taylor has been cast as a series regular opposite Maggie Q in Prime Video's Untitled Renee Ballard Series, which is a Bosch spinoff. The procedural follows Detective Renée Ballard (Q), who is tasked with running the LAPD’s new cold case division—a poorly funded, all-volunteer unit with the largest case load in the city. When Ballard uncovers a larger conspiracy during her investigations, she’ll lean on the assistance of her retired ally, Harry Bosch, to navigate the dangers that threaten both her unit and her life. Taylor will play Samira Parker, who is convinced by Ballard, her former mentor, to return to the LAPD’s Cold Case Unit five years after leaving the force.

PODCASTS/RADIO

James Lee Burke chatted with Crime Time FM's Paul Burke (no relation) about his career and Dave Robicheaux; the Diamond Dagger; Knights Errant; cooking for Davy Crockett, and more.

This most recent episode of the Crime Cafe podcast featured Debbi Mack's interview with crime writer, Phil M. Williams.

The Cops and Writers podcast interviewed bestselling author and ghostwriter, Joshua Lisec.

The latest Mysteryrat’s Maze Podcast featured the mystery short story, "Conversation With the Murderer," written by Heidi Hunter and read by actor Mary Catherine.

The latest installment in the podcast from Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine featured Iain Rowan's riveting story, "Scars," from AHMM's Sept/Oct 2022 issue.

THEATRE

February 6, 2025 will see the world premiere of Picture You Dead, the seventh Peter James book featuring Roy Grace to be adapted for the stage by award-winning writer Shaun McKenna. The play will tour at major theatres across the UK until July 26, 2025. The Roy Grace books were also previously adapted by ITV for its critically acclaimed prime time drama about the Brighton-based detective, with season four of the crime series to be broadcast later this year.

Kiwi Crime Commendations

The longlist for the 2024 Ngaio Marsh Awards Best Novel has been announced. The awards were launched in 2010 by lawyer-turned-journalist Craig Sisterson, who wanted a way for excellence in New Zealand crime, mystery, and thriller writing to be recognized and celebrated, choosing to name the award after Dame Ngaio Marsh, one of the four Queens of Crime of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. The longlist is currently being considered by an international panel of crime and thriller writing experts from the USA, United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand, with finalists for Best Novel, Best First Novel, and Best Kids/YA to be announced in early August. Winners will be revealed as part of a special event in late August held in association with the WORD Christchurch Festival in the hometown of Dame Ngaio.

The Longlist:

Dice, by Claire Baylis (Allen & Unwin)
The Caretaker, by Gabriel Bergmoser (HarperCollins)
Ritual of Fire, by D.V. Bishop (Macmillan)
Birnam Wood, by Eleanor Catton (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
Pet, by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
El Flamingo, by Nick Davies (YBK)
Double Jeopardy, by Stef Harris (Quentin Wilson)
The Quarry, by Kim Hunt (Spiral Collectives)
Devil’s Breath, by Jill Johnson (Black & White/Bonnier)
Going Zero, by Anthony Mccarten (Macmillan)
Home Before Night, by J.P. Pomare (Hachette)
Expectant, by Vanda Symon (Orenda)

Mystery Melange

Viola Davis and bestselling crime fiction author James Patterson have signed with Little, Brown and Company to co-write a novel. Davis has won the Oscar, Emmy, Tony, and Grammy, and she has already made the bestseller lists with her memoir, Finding Me. Set in the present-day rural south, the novel follows a dynamic and brilliant female judge on the brink of a decision with seismic repercussions for her small county, and potentially the whole nation. It puts her career, principles, and ultimately her life at stake. The yet-to-be-titled novel will be published by Little, Brown and Company in 2025 or 2026.

Frank Price will moderate a conversation between Gregg Hurwitz (of the Orphan X series) and Kevin Compton, both experts in "Thrillers, Tech, and Ethics in a Rapidly Changing World," on July 18 at San Francisco's Commonwealth Club of California. The program is sponsored by the San Francisco Commonwealth Club/World Affairs Council and is in-person only. Potential attendees are requested to sign up by July 10. (HT to Mystery Fanfare)

Mystery Readers Journal has a call for articles on the topic of Partners in Crime. They're looking for articles, reviews, and author essays about mysteries that focus on either "Partners in Crime: A Surfeit of Sleuths" or "Partners in Crime: Writing Teams." Author essays are first person, about yourself, your books, and the "Partners in Crime" connection (500-1000 words); reviews are 50-250 words; and articles are 500-1000 words. The deadline is August 1, 2024. For more information, follow this link.

Happy Anniversary to the Mystery Lovers Kitchen blog, which is celebrating 15 years of eating and writing. Members are sharing remembrances, stories, recipes, and offering some giveaways, too.


In the Q&A roundup, Crime Fiction Lover chatted with Joachim B. Schmidt, a Swiss author who writes a series set in his adopted home of Iceland featuring Kalmann, a charming, quirky neurodivergent man who has been told he has the academic capacity of a six-year-old but equally has the capacity for heroism, acting as Sheriff in the tiny community of Rauferhöfn, where he hunts arctic fox and Greenland shark with his grandfather; and Jeff Pierce over at The Rap Sheet blog spoke with Dean Jobb, author of A Gentleman and a Thief, a new biography about the notorious 1920s gentleman cat burglar, Arthur Barry.

Author R&R with J. Luke Bennecke

J. Luke Bennecke is a veteran civil engineer with a well-spent career helping people by improving Southern California roadways. He has a civil engineering degree, an MBA, a private pilot’s certificate, and is a partner in an engineering firm. He enjoys philanthropy and awards scholarships annually to high school seniors. In addition to his debut novel, bestseller and award-winning thriller Civil Terror: Gridlock, Luke has written several other novels and screenplays, a creative process he thoroughly enjoys. Luke resides in Southern California with his wife of 32+ years and three spunky cats. In his leisure time he enjoys traveling, playing golf, voiceover acting, and spending time with his grown daughters. Bennecke is a member of International Thriller Writers and looks forward to attending ThrillerFest every year in New York.

In his second Jake Bendel thriller, Waterborne, engineer Jake Bendel finds himself at the heart of a chilling bioterrorism plot when a mysterious illness linked to his revolutionary desalination plants begins affecting men across California. As the architect of these plants, Jake is suddenly embroiled in a lethal crisis, not just fighting to clear his name but also racing against time to find a cure for a rapidly spreading epidemic. With the entire state teetering on the brink of disaster, Jake's journey for survival becomes a complex battle against unseen enemies. From dodging assassination attempts by drones to uncovering the dark secrets of BioStall, the biotech giant involved in the viral outbreak, Jake’s every move is fraught with danger and deceit. The stakes couldn’t be higher as he navigates through layers of betrayal and manipulation in a desperate bid to save millions of lives.

Luke Bennecke stops by In Reference to Murder to take some "Author R&R" about writing and researching his book:

The idea for Waterborne came to me while editing my first novel, Gridlock. I’d been kicking around “what if” questions related to the California drought, giving myself a magic wand, if money were no object, “how would I use science and engineering to solve the drought?” I decided this would be the second novel in the Jake Bendel universe.

In a bit of a “duh moment,” I realized California has 800 miles of coastline, so technically there’s plenty of water here. But, of course, it’s saltwater, right? We’d need a bunch of desalination plants. So, I went down the rabbit hole online and learned as much as I could about the various types of systems to remove the salt from seawater to provide fresh, clean drinking water. I discovered that the process of cleaning the water is notoriously power-hungry.

Again, with the magic wand, what could we power these desalination plants with that won’t kill the environment, make global climate change worse, and at the same time, not break the taxpayer bank? (I assumed in my fictional story the government would fully fund the system.) Not long after searching, I found the solution: Molten Salt Reactors (MSRs)! At the time I started outlining the story (in 2018), MIT researchers had recently resurrected nuclear technology from the 1950s. MSRs are safe, eco-friendly (no carbon footprint, and they can actually run on spent nuclear rods from the OLD light water reactors, the ones creating all of the nuclear waste everyone’s worried about), and relatively inexpensive.

Now that I had the guts of the plot and a science/tech theme, it was time to weave in the rest of my favorite themes: terrorism and safety, environmental issues, survival and perseverance, ethical dilemmas, betrayal/trust, loss/grief, conspiracy/corruption, heroism/sacrifice, and identity/redemption.

I made sure my protagonist, Jake Bendel, went on a journey of self-discovery and redemption by facing challenges that forced him to confront his past, question his identity, and ultimately seek redemption for his perceived failings.

As an author, I’m a hybrid pantser/plotter, and definitely not a full outliner (some authors write 30,000+ word outlines BEFORE they start writing), because as an engineer, I have to have at least a little bit of structure. I wouldn’t want to start building a house or a bridge and “figure it out” as I went along. I’d want at least a skeleton set of plans, knowing where the kitchen would be, how many bedrooms/bathrooms we’d have, and the approximate square footage. And maybe whether the house is one story or two. Big picture stuff like that. Then for the look/feel, the color of the walls, the types of sinks/faucets, tile, flooring, etc. (all the things the homeowners would look/feel/touch), we can figure that out as we go along.

Same thing with Waterborne. I put together an eight-subact structure, with goals/conflict/resolution in each part, and with the underlying plot and themes at the ready, I sat down and started writing as organically as possible.

I think the fact the book has had about 30,000 Amazon downloads and almost 400 4+ star ratings shows that the story ended up providing a wonderfully extraordinary journey for my readers. If this type of story resonates with you, please visit Amazon and give it a read! It’s available in paperback and hardcover (audiobook is currently in production and should be available by the end of August). Hope you enjoy it!

You can learn more about J. Luke Bennecke via his website and follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Waterborne is available via all major booksellers.

Author R&R with Matthew Saeman

Matthew Saeman spent the first twenty three years of his professional life in the industries of construction and sales. He acquired his teaching credential at the age of 47 and now instructs students with Autism and emotional disturbances. Storytelling has always been something he loved to do, but it wasn’t until later in life that he began writing novels. The late Gordon McAlpine was his mentor, inspiring him to take the next step once his short stories began getting published, and once he began writing novels, he knew this was the best way to express his creativity. Matthew enjoys writing in the Suspense/Thriller genre mainly because he loves the concept of keeping the reader constantly wondering what’s going to happen next, which characters might turn out to be bad, and whether or not the hero will win out in the end…which is far from certain. He’s written eight novels thus far, two of which have been published. His most recent, To Preserve, Protect and Destroy was released through Palmetto Publishing in June.

In To Preserve, Protect and Destroy, NASA geologist Terrence Sullivan is thrust into a perilous mission of universal significance. He is tasked with retrieving volatile stones from Mars, the same stones responsible for the disastrous end to a prior terraforming mission there. Initially, Terrence believes this mission is solely for universal safety. However, as the story progresses, he discovers the chilling reality behind its true objective. The stakes escalate beyond his wildest imagination, with the lives of the crew and millions of innocents at risk as the ship carrying the deadly stones is set to return to Earth…but not to land safely. As time dwindles, Terrence is forced to make decisions that will not only seal his fate but also that of humanity. Will he manage to avert the looming disaster and expose the truth, or will he become just another pawn sacrificed in this deadly Presidential power play?

Matthew Saeman stops by In Reference to Murder to take some "Author R&R" about writing and researching his book:

 

Having no first hand knowledge of the Geological science, the inner workings of NASA, or a corrupt U.S. President, in order to write this story with any degree of accuracy, I needed to spend countless hours reading novels, watching movies/documentaries, and scouring the internet not only to locate the “technical” information required, but also to make it believable to the reader that I knew everything there was to know about these topics. Of course, before one minute was spent researching anything, I needed to first put together a proper “skeleton” of the story.

Ideas for the stories I write hit me totally at random. Once I get an idea, I allow it to percolate for at least a day. If I still feel I want to pursue it, I take it to the next stage which is where I’ll write a very brief synopsis from start to finish. There’s a feeling I get in my gut that tells me if it’s an interesting concept and if I’d have fun writing it. With To Preserve, Protect and Destroy, my gut kept telling me to take it to the next stage, which is extending the brief synopsis into a longer one and incorporating more details, to include character names and bios. At this point, the story had begun building momentum, and so I went with it. Stage 4 is the process of developing a chapter outline. The first draft is always minimal but it’s a “living” document that grows as time passes. The outline for this book took about four months to complete… and that’s when I began doing my research.

In today’s world, with access to any and all information at the stroke of a key, the process of educating oneself on any subject is tremendously simpler than it was twenty years ago. But persistence and drive are the keys to success. Once I’d dedicated myself to writing this novel, I’d also dedicated substantial time to not only doing the necessary research, but also incorporating this newfound knowledge with the characters I’d created. Emulating aspects of myself or people that I knew helped me make the characters more real. As I said previously, the outline is a living document, so even after I began writing the chapters, there were changes I made in order for the story to work.

This process is not the same for every writer. In fact, I’d bet every writer does it different. The one aspect that is identical however is sticktoitivity. I love to write and so I manage my time appropriately. When I’m working on a story, there are hours dedicated to the writing process. If I’m unwilling to do this then the stories don’t get written. With To Preserve, Protect and Destroy, I dedicated part of every day to doing something that advanced where I was with that story. To me, writing is like exercising. Once you get into the rhythm of the process, it becomes easier to do each day. If you let days or weeks pass without writing, finding the right words can feel like pulling teeth.

 

You can learn more about Matthew Saeman and his writing via his website and follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. To Preserve, Protect and Destroy is now available via all major booksellers.

Media Murder for Monday

It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a brand-new roundup of crime drama news:

THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES

Lionsgate has set a release date of Labor Day weekend, August 30, for the action crime thriller 1992, which is one of Ray Liotta's final film roles. The story follows Mercer (Tyrese Gibson), who is desperately trying to rebuild his life and relationship with his son (Christopher Ammanuel) amidst the turbulent 1992 L.A. uprising following the Rodney King verdict. Across town, another father and son (Liotta and Scott Eastwood) put their own strained relationship to the test as they plot a dangerous heist to steal catalytic converters, which contain valuable platinum, from the factory where Mercer works. As tensions rise in Los Angeles and chaos erupts, both families reach their boiling points when they collide. Ariel Vromen directs, from a screenplay and story written by Vromen and Sascha Penn.

Zaid Abu Hamdan has begun principal photography in Jordan on the new film Boomah ("The Owl"), which is described as an "expansive crime thriller" set against the backdrop of Jordan’s underworld, with a similar gritty edge as City of God, Gomorrah, and La Haine. Rakeen Saad stars as "Boomah," a notorious and knife-savvy female gang member who becomes embroiled in a power struggle between street thugs and religious extremists while battling the traumas of her harrowing orphaned past. Saad is joined by Joanna Arida in the role of Boomah’s best friend and confidant, Anoud.

TELEVISION/SMALL SCREEN

Patrick Brammall is set to star in a six-part series adaptation of Ryan David Jahn’s book, The Dispatcher, for Apple TV+. Brammall will play police detective Ian Hunt, whose life fell apart ten years ago when his young daughter Maggie disappeared without a trace. Now working as a police dispatcher, the only thing that has kept him going is his implacable refusal to accept that she might be gone forever. When he receives a distress call from a young girl he is certain is Maggie, he will stop at nothing to find her and reunite his broken family, whatever the cost. The book, which was published in 2011, is set in East Texas and features a bullet-strewn, cross-country chase from Texas to California in a wild ride that passes through the outlaw territory of No Country for Old Men.

Rian Johnson celebrated the first day of filming the sophomore season of Poker Face, sharing a photo of the show’s clapboard, which listed star Natasha Lyonne as the director for episode two. Inspired by the inverted detective format of Columbo and similarly described by Johnson as a "howcatchem" (as opposed to the "whodunit" structure of Knives Out), Poker Face follows Vegas casino worker and human bullshit detector Charlie Cale (Lyonne) as she runs from the mob while solving a string of murders along the way. The star-studded series has featured such guest stars as Adrien Brody, Ron Perlman, Chloë Sevigny, Rowan Blanchard, and Rhea Perlman.

Onyx is not proceeding with Not Cops, a pilot from former Insecure showrunner Prentice Penny, which had scheduled filming to begin in mid-July when the plug was pulled last week. The drama revolved around residents of the Los Angeles neighborhood of Leimert Park who take charge of the safety in their community after defunding the police. Not Cops was in the middle of casting when the axe fell, with Bethlehem Million, Suzy Nakamura, and Chi McBride among those already on board.

Essence Atkins (First Wives Club), Melissa Ponzio (Chicago Fire) and Vaughn W. Hebron (The Oval) have signed on for recurring roles in Season 2 of Onyx Collective's Reasonable Doubt. The drama centers on Los Angeles-based, high-powered criminal defense attorney Jacqueline "Jax" Stewart (Emayatzy Corinealdi) as she deals with past traumas, a failing marriage, motherhood, and a murder case, all while trying to keep her life together.

Garret Dillahunt (Fear the Walking Dead) is set to recur in the new ABC drama High Potential, premiering this fall. Created by Drew Goddard based on a French film, the series stars Kaitlin Olson as Morgan, a single mom with three kids and an exceptional mind who helps solve an unsolvable crime when she rearranges some evidence during her shift as a cleaner for the police department. When they discover she has a knack for putting things in order because of her high intellectual potential, she is brought on as a consultant to work with by-the-book seasoned detective Karadec (Daniel Sunjata), and together they form an unusual and unstoppable team. Dillahunt will portray Lieutenant Melon, a bit of a jerk who heads up the Robbery Division of the LAPD precinct, but he’d much rather be running Major Crimes.

If you're wondering about the status of your favorite returning TV shows or eagerly anticipated new ones, Deadline compiled a handy list of TV premiere dates.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

On Crime Time FM, Laura Sims chatted with host Paul Burke about her new novel, How Can I Help You, libraries, and the discipline of poetry.

The Red Hot Chili Writers spoke with thriller fiction legend Karin Slaughter, discussing her latest book, This Is Why We Lied, and touching on the cricket world cup in America.

THEATRE

Hot-on-the-heels of the critically acclaimed new BBC TV series, Ian Rankin’s much-loved detective is set to return in the stage production of Rebus: A Game Called Malice, which visits Edinburgh's Festival Theatre from September 10-14. Best known for his roles in Coronation Street, Peak Practice, and Casualty, Gray O’Brien plays John Rebus, with Billy Hartman returning to the role of Jack Fleming, having created it for the stage in 2023, and Abigail Thaw playing Stephanie Jeffries.